INDUSTRY EDUCATION
VIRGINIA TECH The Virginia Tech School of Plant and Environmental Sciences offers a four-year Bachelor of Science degree for Turfgrass Science majors ; and Virginia Tech ’ s Ag Tech program is a two-year associate degree program that offers a Landscape and Turfgrass option .
“ We have a number of students working at local golf courses and the athletic facilities on campus helping out on all of the VT athletic fields ,” said Dan Sandor , Ph . D ., collegiate assistant professor , turfgrass science , Virginia Tech . “ So , they get hands-on experience with the staff here and get credit hours out of it .”
According to Sandor , students in the Turfgrass Club have the opportunity to attend the SFMA Conference and the GCSAA conference .
“ Turfgrass Club members also participate in an annual golf tournament each spring with turfgrass students from the University of Maryland ,” he said . “ Both 2-year and 4-year students are able to be members of the Turfgrass Club . We also combine the two-year students and the four-year students in the Advanced Turfgrass class to allow the sophomores in the Ag Tech program to connect and learn with their peers in the four-year program .”
Sandor added , “ Many of our 4-year students have transferred into the bachelor ’ s degree program from community college , due to the university ’ s challenging academic requirements for high school seniors to be directly admitted into the turfgrass science major as a freshman ,” he said . “ We encourage students to attend community college to get their gen eds out of the way while living at home , and work at a local golf course and gain some hands-on instruction in turf management .”
Virginia Tech works with the Virginia Community College System to offer a guaranteed route to admission for students earning transferable credits or their associate degrees . Students in the Ag Tech turf management program also have the opportunity to transfer into the 4-year turfgrass science program after earning their 2-year degree .
According to Sandor , students in the Virginia Tech turfgrass program are a mix of students pursuing careers in sports field management , golf course maintenance , lawn and landscaping , and even sod production .
“ We ’ ve had two SFMA scholarship winners in back-toback years ,” he said . “ A lot of students played sports in high school and knew they weren ’ t going to make it , so being involved in the SFMA is a way they get to stay in sports .” When it comes to getting high school students interested in pursuing a turfgrass degree , Virginia Tech is in a bit of a unique position , as 17 schools in the state of Virginia offer turfgrass education at the high school level . Such programs include Brentsville District High School in Nokesville , Virginia , directed by Drew Miller ; Atlee High School in Mechanicsville , Virginia , directed by Marc Moran , CSFM ; and Louisa County High School in Mineral , Virginia , directed by Logan Horne . These programs are not only offering turfgrass education at the high school level , but they are winning national awards for their athletic fields and their sports field management practices .
“ These kids are taking solid green industry classes , and the students are involved with the upkeep and maintenance of their fields ,” said Sandor . “ I visited both Marc and Logan ’ s programs a couple weeks ago , and the students mow the fields and mark the fields . They
14 SportsField Management | May 2023 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com